Luke Henry is cursed to live for (aneternity) wrote in rooms,
Re: Queens: Evie/Wren/Luke
[Luke watched Wren and Lia. He was purposely slow in going to get the lemonade, lingering, and he smiled when Wren relented and gave the little girl real attention instead of the same vacant nothing she'd given Gus. It wasn't much, but it was progress. It was something. Like it'd been before, when she carried the baby everywhere, and he wanted so, so badly for everything to be okay. He wanted Wren to realize that the kids were alive. He wanted all those bad things to just go away. As usual, he ranked his own well-being below everyone else's.
Pretending was how he survived. It was years and years of learned behaviour, and the only person he didn't pretend with was Wren. Sometimes, though, to protect her, he pretended a little. Like not talking about Jude, or his nightmares, or how scared he was about leaving her alone. And maybe it wasn't fair, to expect Evie to pretend too. Maybe he should be encouraging honesty. He just didn't want Wren to blame herself for things that weren't her fault, that was all. He just wanted to protect her.
But he should've known better. He should've known Wren wouldn't just accept Evie's hollow agreement and leave it at that.
He lingered in the kitchen, too, as Wren told Evie that she was a bad liar. But he couldn't stay there forever, and he carried the lemonade to the table, set the pitcher down, quiet, quiet, as Wren spoke. He picked Gus up as he sat, letting the little boy settle on his lap afterward. And, when Wren looked to him for reinforcement, there was only one thing he could say. Friends, they listened. That was what they did. After not being there for Evie, it was the least they could do.]
Right. [Luke smiled. It was small, soft, but it was genuine.]